When it comes down to it, eating, sleeping, studying, and working out at an Ivy looks a lot like it would at any other university.

It's no wonder people put Ivy League schools on such a pedestal. Between all the movies and television shows featuring Harvard and Yale — remember Rory Gilmore's inner struggle when it came to choosing between the two? — and the clout of having a degree from one of the elite eight northeastern universities, who wouldn't think everything about the schools is a dream?

Dorm rooms are small and dining hall food is exactly that. The campuses are beautiful, but there are a vast amount of non-Ivy campuses that are as well. While the Ivy League was originally formed to create a sport conference, and its teams often make it into tournaments, there are plenty of teams at schools all across the country that are constantly beating them out for titles.

Take a look at these photos proving life at an Ivy is no different from life at any other top university in the country.

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Growing up, it's easy to think of Ivy League colleges as the pinnacle of higher education in every way.

Millions of people dream of attending a school that's part of the Ivy League.
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By academic standards, it more than fits the bill.

And so does the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

However, neither of these schools is part of the Ivy League conference. The formation of the league had little to do with academia; it is — at it's core — a sports conference, much like the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference (B10), and Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12).

Stanford University is in the Pac-12 conference.
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The schools within the Ivy League conference compete in all types of sports. From track and field ...

The rivalries date back to the beginning.
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... to crew ...

Pictured is the Princeton rowing crew preparing for a Cornell-Yale race in 1930.
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